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Have you had Korean Army Stew? Korean Army stew or army base stew (Budae Jjigae) is Korean fusion stew that incorporates American style processed food such as spam, sausages, canned baked beans and sliced cheese.

‘Budae’ is the Korean word for ‘military base’ and ‘Jjigae’ is a term for soup or stew. Hence the word ‘army stew’ or ‘army base stew’ was born.

Soon after the Korean war in the early 1950’s, food was extremely scarce in Korea. So those surplus processed foods from the US military bases were a great supplement for Koreans.

Koreans started making Budae Jjigae using the surplus food from the US military along with other common Korean food, such as Kimchi.

Among the US military base areas in Korea, Uijeongbu, an hour north of Seoul, is most famous for this stew.

Dansungsa in Carrollton offers one of the best Budae Jjigae’s in town. So, if you haven’t had a chance to try Budae Jjigae, I strongly suggest that you pay a visit to Dansungsa.

By the way, Monday June 25th marks the 68th anniversary of the Korean War.